22/08/2023 - New work from Théo Court, Federico Veiroj, Daniel Hendler, Ivan Fund and Gabe Klinger are some key examples of the projects seeking new partners at the festival’s pitching event

Director Théo Court, who will participate in the forum with his new project Three Dark Nights

A total of fifteen projects (all detailed below), selected from a total of 222 registered, will be presented at the Europe-Latin America Co-Production Forum. to be held from 25 to 27 September as part of the industry activities at the 71st San Sebastian International Film Festival. Intended for both fiction and non-fiction work under development, this forum is open to film projects both from both Europe and Latin America: those responsible for the short-listed candidates will have the change to present their work in pitching sessions, as well as having a customised diary of appointments with professionals interest in taking part in the production/distribution/sales for their films.

Seven of these fifteen projects are the first or second films from their directors, such as Génesis Valenzuela, student of Elias Querejeta Zine Eskola, with her début work Three Bullets (co-production between Spain and the Dominican Republic); or by the Mexican film makers Juan Pablo González and Ana Isabel Fernández de Alba, who return to this contest with Warm Water (produced between their home country and the US) after presenting their début Dos estaciones in the Latin Horizons section last year.

Other film makers taking part in this Co-Production Forum have had a great impact with their previous works, such as Théo Court, from Spain, who is presenting  Three Dark Nights after the international success of his disturbing White on White [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Théo Court
film profile]; Fauna is the new project by Uruguayan director  Federico Veiroj, who took part in the official section of the festival in 2015 with The Apostate [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile]; A loose end is the next film by the director and actor from Montevideo Daniel Hendler, a face known for his performances in Lost Embrace [+see also:
trailer
film profile], which took the Silver Bear at the Berlinale, or the recent 15 Ways to Kill your Neighbour [+see also:
trailer
film profile], among other films, and who already tried his luck behind the camera with Norberto’s Deadline and The Candidate; The Message is the name of the project by Argentinian film maker Ivan Fund, after the dramatic and acclaimed Dusk Stone [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Iván Fund
film profile]; Brazilian director Gabe Klinger will present Okonomiyaki after bringing his delicate film Porto [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Gabe Klinger
film profile] to the New Directors section of the festival in 2016; and Mil pedazos (A Thousand Pieces) is the new project by Chilean photographer Sergio Castro San Martin (La mujer de barro), currently produced between his country of origin, Argentina, and Germany.

The Italian director Daniela Abad Lombana will be in San Sebastián for the first time, with her third feature film and first work of fiction These were all fields (Colombia); and Argentinian film maker Ezequiel Yanco,  will do the same with The Reserve (co-production between Spain and Mexico); while the Argentinian producer Barbara Sarasola-Day will be at the Forum, this time as director, with her project Little War, in co-production with the Netherlands.

All these people will be eligible for the following awards: Best Project, with 10,000 euros gross prize money; the DALE! Award (Latin America-Europe Development), worth 20,000 euros; and ArteKino International Award, consisting of 6,000 euros gross: these awards will be given to the majority producer of the winning project.

The selected projects:

Warm Water - Juan Pablo González, Ana Isabel Fernández de Alba (Mexico/US)
Production: Sin Sitio Cine

El mensaje (The Message) - Iván Fund (Argentina)
Production: Rita Cine

Estoy bien (I'm Fine) - Alicia Scherson (Chile)
Production: Globo Rojo Films

Fauna - Federico Veiroj (Uruguay)
Production: Cinekdoque

La reserva (The Reserve) - Ezequiel Yanco (Argentina/Mexico/Spain)
Production: Isoi Cine, No Ficción

Little War - Bárbara Sarasola-Day (Argentina/Netherlands)
Production: Pucará Cine SRL

Los días libres (The Days Off) - Lucila Mariani (Argentina/Brazil)
Production: Maravillacine

Mil pedazos (A Thousand Pieces) - Sergio Castro San Martín (Chile/Argentina/Germany)
Production: Latente Films

Ninho tinto (Red Nest) - Alice Stamato, Val Hidalgo (Brazil)
Production: Platô Filmes

Nostalgia del futuro (Nostalgia from the Future) - Florencia Colman (Uruguay/Argentina)
Production: Tarkiofilm

Okonomiyaki - Gabe Klinger (Brazil/Chile/France)
Production: Raccord Produções

Todo esto eran mangas (These Were All Fields) - Daniela Abad Lombana (Colombia)
Production: La Selva Cine

Tres balas (Three Bullets) - Génesis Valenzuela (Dominican Republic/Spain)
Production: Colectivo Cinematográfico 81

Tres noches negras (Three Dark Nights) - Théo Court (Spain/Chile)
Production: El Viaje Films

Un cabo suelto (A Loose End) – Daniel Hendler (Uruguay)
Production: Cordón Films

(Translated from Spanish by Alexandra Stephens)